Into the Hidden Mist
by purpleblind
Summary: In the destabilisation following the 4th Shinobi War, the 5th Mizukage and her assistant move to suppress a rogue unit of Kiri ANBU besieging a town, where they meet up with a wandering Sasuke on his road to redemption. What begins as a routine mission turns into a hunt for an extremely dangerous, yet elusive menace with links to the last war. Comments and criticisms much welcome.


**Into the Hidden Mist** is a short adventure/romance set about one year after the 4th Shinobi War, following Sasuke's Road to Redemption period. Sasuke Uchiha and Mei Terumī find themselves hunting a dangerous, but elusive opponent who has been tampering with leftover matters from the 4th Shinobi War.

 _ **Reader Disclaimer :**_ _ **Though this work adheres as closely as possible to canon material, nothing in this fiction is considered canon or an attempt to define it. This fanfiction is of four parts; Uchiha Sasuke during his road to redemption; Terum**_ _ **ī**_ _ **Mei coaching**_ _ **Ch**_ _ **ō**_ _ **j**_ _ **ū**_ _ **r**_ _ **ō into the role of the next Mizukage; a brief flirtation with the unlikely romance of the SasuMei variety; and finally this fanfic is prelude to another crossover fanfic I'm planning on (more details in my profile).**_

 _ **Although I'll admit this pair will never fly, I've always had a soft spot for it (especially since Mei is set for spinsterhood in canon), so I thought I'd give them a little moment to themselves. First and foremost though, the focus of the story is action, adventure, and mystery; not the romance.**_

 _ **Legal Disclaimer**_ _ **: 'Into the Hidden Mist' is a work of fiction made to entertain, utilising existing characters, concepts, and settings from Naruto. I do not, in**_ _ **any way**_ _ **, own them: all rights to the relevant characters and concepts belong to its creator Masashi Kishimoto.**_

 **The Darkness Growing in the Mist**

The thin grey mist parted to the rush of bodies, closing almost immediately behind them as they raced by. All but two were garbed in the distinctive grey and black of a Hidden Mist shinobi. Leading these four from the front was a young man, barely out of his teens, and a woman. With his tufted blue-grey hair, square glasses, and a heavy broad-bladed sword on his back wrapped in bandages; the boy was immediately identifiable as Chōjūrō, one of the elite Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, the current wielder of _Hiramekarei_.

Whilst some may not have known of him, there were few in the Land of Water that did not know the woman. Terumī Mei, the current Mizukage of Kirigakure, stood out in any crowd; with her long flowing auburn hair and green-eyed gaze, she was a kunoichi of the highest calibre and a strong contender for being one of the most beautiful women in the ninja world. Despite beauty, there was enough steel within that all who beheld her knew she was not someone to be crossed lightly – in the ninja world, the title of Kage was not something for pomp and ceremony – she was the strongest shinobi in the Hidden Village of Mist, and amongst the strongest in the world.

Ahead of them came a fork in the road and without hesitation they turned right, heading up into the mountains. Somewhere ahead of them, a township had found itself under siege from a group of missing nin, all of whom were former shinobi of the Hidden Mist. The the Fourth Shinobi War had vastly depleted the military power of all the great villages, and in the aftermath, bandits and rogue shinobi had risen to take advantage of that weakness.

In normal times, Kirigakure would have simply waited until a paid request to help the township was submitted and sent out a couple of jounin to deal with it. In this case, Mei wanted to make a clear statement that such flagrant disrespect from former shinobi would not be tolerated – that they were erstwhile ANBU members only added insult to injury and made the situation dangerous enough to warrant her personal attention.

Upon the heights, the coastal mist began to thin out somewhat, and the outline of the town came into view. Everyone was immediately on their guard, mindful of ambush, with Mei holding up a hand to the group to a halt. They were at the bottom of a cliff and Chōjūrō glanced at the heights whilst Mei queried the one sensor-type in their group.

"There's a large collection of various chakras directly inside the village," replied the sensor after a few moments of concentration on her part. There was a certain nervousness in her voice, and even her expression indicated as much. "Most of them range from chunin to jounin class if I had to make a guess, but one of them is... well, quite large and strange as well – I can't tell if its a specific quality of the chakra or a _kekkei genkai_ though."

Mei strained her mind for a moment before querying: "Chōjūrō, are there any S-ranked criminals unaccounted for in the bingo books?"

"Um, not that I'm aware of Mizukage-sama," replied Chōjūrō uncertainly. Despite being one of the Seven Swordsmen, there was still an uncertainty in his manner that one wouldn't have expected, though Mei did not berate him for it; sometimes, she even found it endearing. Not for the first time since the war ended did she wish Ao was still alive – his absence reminded her how much she relied on him for matters like this. She turned back to the sensor shinobi.

"Do they know we're here?"

"They're not moving around a lot, except for the large one," came the reply after a moment. "I'd say no, though I wouldn't put it past them to try and set a trap – it's as if they're making no effort to hide or prepare – it's a little strange if you ask me."

"All right. We'll take our chances and–"

She was cut off as Chōjūrō suddenly called their attention to the entrance of the town. They all saw it: a man walking nonchalantly in their direction. So deeply intent was he on some personal matter or errand that he didn't notice them until he was only a few paces from them. His astonishment lasted only a moment, before smiling and waving at the group much to their confusion.

"What's going on?" asked Mei, somewhat bewildered that the townsfolk should be walking freely and without worry in the middle of a siege. "Wasn't the town under attack? Are they letting people come and go as they please?"

"Attack?" He seemed confused for a moment before his face lit up in remembrance and he grinned apologetically. "Oh, _that!_ It's been taken care of already – we've got them all lined up in the centre of town. Were you here to collect them?"

Mei exchanged glances with Chōjūrō. "Well, if its been taken care of, then I suppose so."

It took them only a moment to find the ones they sought. Only a few of the rogue shinobi had been tied up, but most only sat down staring blankly and stupidly at the space before their feet. Around them, the more curious townsfolk gathered to comment and jeer and laugh. One of the jounin in her group went to kneel by one of the men, touching him lightly on the head.

"Genjutsu, Mizukage-sama," he said after a moment, confirming his suspicions that the dazed men were indeed under some sort of illusion-type jutsu.

"Seems like someone got to them before we did," pointed out Chōjūrō.

"I wonder," noted Mei. "I thought we were the only ones within call to deal with this."

Before any of them could begin the process of conjecture, a rising murmur at the far end of the crowd alerted them to the arrival of newcomer, who carried one of the renegade Kiri-nin upon his shoulder before depositing him alongside his fellows. He slumped alongside his fellows unmoving, in all likelihood under genjutsu like the others. Chōjūrō made some soft sound of remonstration, though the Mizukage held her amazement in better check.

The other was only above average in height, yet there was fierce innate vitality within that seemed to transcend mere physical bulk. Lean and hard bodied, as became one through arduous conflict and strenuous physical trials, the wild mop of his raven hair was confined by a blue sash wound about his head. Slowly, he turned an impersonal, casual gaze towards the Mizukage and her men, wherein Mei saw wary recognition – perhaps understandable since their last significant interaction had been in deadly confrontation.

"Uchiha Sasuke," announced Mei, more for the benefit of those about her. "I had heard you'd left Konoha to go wandering, though I confess I didn't expect to run into you here."

"I was only passing through," assured Sasuke tersely, as he read whatever he wanted from her words. "If it wasn't for this rabble, I would have already been gone by now."

"Rabble?" Terumī seemed amused. At least two of the incapacitated renegades had boil- and ice-release keikkei genkai. Sasuke turned to face them fully and, despite herself, Mei flinched. His right eye was dark, but his left eye had the pale concentric pattern of the rinnegan – the most exalted and powerful of all ocular powers – and the last time she had faced down a rinnegan user it had almost lead to her death; that person also an Uchiha. "Yes, I suppose they would seem so by comparison, wouldn't they? Are you leaving immediately, even without reward?"

"As I said, I didn't intend to stay–"

"Sasuke-san!" It was the clear, lilting call of a young woman, and they all turned to look at her. Despite the close-set nature of the kimono she wore, she had come running and was breathless from the effort. Once she had caught her breath, she was nothing but smiles.

"I finally found you! Father says he's cancelling your rent for the room as thanks for saving the town, so please stay with us as long as you want!"

Sasuke gave an embarrassed grunt, but quickly regained his poise, taking a glance in the direction of Mei's group. "As I was telling the Mizukage here, I was just leaving..."

"Now, now, if you were already staying, there's no need to leave on account of us," chided Mei. Though she smiled, she felt a stab of irritation at the minor deception; granted that perhaps he didn't feel all that comfortable given their past. Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden outcry from the girl, who Mei only then realised had been so focussed on the young man that she hadn't realised the presence of the Mizukage and her entourage, and was presently making up for it with profuse bowing, salutations, and invitations to stay at the family inn.

It was then that Mei noticed Sasuke hadn't left, which would have been much more characteristic of him. His expression was considerably calmer and more tranquil than when she had last seen him, but also lost as well; like a man searching for his path in life. Though it was said that war could change a man, she suspected that something much more profound had taken place, though exactly what would probably remain a mystery to her; even now, Sasuke didn't look like the type to talk about those weighty matters he always seemed to brood on.

"What shall we do?" asked Chōjūrō. Although it was logical to assume he was talking about the rogue shinobi and the situation in general, Mei knew him well enough to know that he was talking about Sasuke.

"What else is there to do?" shrugged the Mizukage. "We take them in and find out what they hoped to accomplish here."

"I wouldn't count on getting too much out of them," remarked Sasuke. "They barely knew what they were doing here in the first place; when I found them, they were pretty much in a daze – the townsfolk said they blundered in, shouting and making a ruckus and very little else, like a drunken mob – most of them don't even seem to remember that they were holding the town hostage."

"Strange," remarked Mei.

"Perhaps they were under genjutsu?" tried Chōjūrō. Despite himself, he was unable to help shooting a nervous glance at Sasuke as though the Uchiha were suspect in the matter.

"Well then, I'll take my leave." Sasuke began to walk off at which Chōjūrō shot a glance at Mei, who merely shook her head.

"Why is he here in the first place?" wondered Chōjūrō aloud. "I know he's wandering around, but that guys doesn't strike me as the sort to go around aimlessly."

Mei looked at the back of the withdrawing young man consideringly. "Perhaps. But just remember his circumstances Chōjūrō: Sasuke was formerly an international criminal – even if he has received a pardon for his crimes, it doesn't necessarily mean he'll feel welcome in his village. If his remorse is genuine, as the sixth Hokage suggests, perhaps he feels guilty about the whole ordeal and may be imposing a form of exile on himself."

Chōjūrō scratched his head, feeling a little abashed for not having thought as deeply on the matter as Mei had.

"Round up these traitors and have them brought back to Kirigakure where our interogators can get to work on them; I want to know everything however small," ordered Mei as she at last cast her gaze back to the line. "Compile all reports and have them sent to me here."

"Uh, Mizukage-sama, I take it we're _not_ leaving yet?" Chōjūrō was a little despondent, secretly wanting to be away.

Mei smiled reassuringly. "Like yourself, I'm also of the opinion that Uchiha Sasuke would not be wandering around merely to clear his head."

Chōjūrō sighed, but his admiration for Mei and his sense of duty prevented him from complaining, and after a few moments he was as calm as though he had suggested the idea himself. Even so, he was still nervous enough about the whole situation to reach out and touch one Hiramekarei's hilts unconsciously. Mei took note, but smiled as she politely affected not to notice her protege's unease. Instead, she turned to the innkeeper's daughter nearby.

"So where did you say your father's inn was?"

* * *

On the rocky incline overlooking the town, a man staggered away, his headband and greyish uniform proclaiming him a shinobi of the Hidden Mist. A groan escaped him as his leg buckled, and, without the support, he collapsed heavily on the ground. For a long while he lay there, gasping heavily, his eyes bulging as though they would start from head, but at last he pushed himself up.

Another groan escaped him, but this time more feral and angry than before throwing his head back, he made an inarticulate sound of rage before starting forward again, casting an occasional glance back at the town. Saliva dripped down from his chin, but the man made no effort to wipe away the distasteful display as he lunged forward in erratic, jerky movement towards whatever destination he had in mind.

As he continued to ascend, he crossed paths with a woman, similarly garbed, who sat crouching on the ground, but paid no attention to her as he passed her by. Another Kirigakure nin, her condition was little better than his, shaking where she sat as though possessed of the ague, her eyes wide and blankly staring at the ground in front of her. Her left forearm was bloodied from self inflicted wounds as she continued to carve lines in her skin with a kunai, her face twisted with rage barely contained.

The two of them were not alone. Like littered leaves, dozens of others were present, all in similar states of mental distress.

* * *

Sasuke laid out what remaining ninja tools and weapons he had, noting how few they had become. Subduing the Kiri-nin in this town had proved relatively lacking in challenge, but for once he was grateful for that fact. He had been on the road for nearly a year now and rarely taking moments to rest, continually finding himself stopping from place to place to help out with local troubles, not unlike today.

Taka, his old team that was still hanging around, were somewhere on the north side of the island after he had sent them to look into some matters that he felt didn't require his personal attention. That which had required his attention, had eventually brought him here and then the trail he had been following went cold. Or had it? Sasuke, for one, didn't believe in coincidences, but he was unsure what the dazed rogue shinobi who attacked the town meant or portended. The Mizukage's aide had suggested they might be under genjutsu, but had already examined them and knew that it wasn't the case. Even an examination using his rinnegan had proved inconclusive.

The presence of the Mizukage was unexpected, and even a little awkward - Sasuke knew that being pardoned before a court didn't necessarily meant he had been pardoned by those he had wronged. Even though he had nothing against the Mizukage of Kirigakure, when they fought, anger had consumed him and he had lashed out at anyone who stood in his way, even those who were trying to stop him from making grave mistakes. Looking back upon it now, it seemed like such a juvenile approach, but hatred made no distinction between a hand that offered help or harm. The past, however, could not be undone and all he could do was move forward and, hopefully, when he breathed his last he'd leave the world and its people in a better condition than when he started.

That was the best he could hope for now. His own happiness was secondary to what was sure to be a lifelong pursuit.

A knock on his door shook him from his moment of introspection. His hand hovering above a kunai, he inquired as to the identity of the visitor.

"Sasuke-san!" It was the voice of the daughter of the innkeeper; Akane if he correctly remembered it. "Will you be having dinner tonight?"

Sighing, Sasuke moved his hand away from kunai. He had stayed in town longer than he was usually want to stay in any one place, yet something continually piqued his senses as though he were being watched, though investigation turned up nothing unusual, except, perhaps, unusually higher chakra levels in the inhabitants than in any other place he had travelled to. Unusual, but not an issue - whilst higher than usual, even a shinobi genin had more chakra.

Gather up his tools, he shot a glance towards the door to decline the offer, when something caught his attention enough to startle him. In an instant he was opening the door to which the girl outside jumped back startled by the suddenness of his appearance, but Sasuke only frowned at her and looked down the hall on either side, but saw nothing.

"Sasuke... san?" The girl looked uncertain, though trying to maintain her characteristic smile she put on whenever she was in his presence.

"Actually, I-"

Akane flinched and screamed as the deafening sound of explosions shook the inn to its foundations, followed by an ominous rumbling. Sasuke wasted no time as he leapt outside. Most of the towns inhabitants were in a panic and with good reason; up above it seemed as though the entire mountainside was collapsing. There was little doubt, in conjunction with the explosives heard earlier, that this was a deliberate act of sabotage, but there was little time for conjecture now.

Unsurprisingly, the Mizukage and her assistant had already sprang into action, facing down the approaching avalanche a little ahead of him. Susanoo? It was risky, especially given the wide area, and they couldn't use powerful jutsus carelessly or the town would be damaged. Using the Deva path of the rinnegan would have been ideal to repulse the landslide, yet he wasn't entirely confident that he had that aspect under control.

"Follow me!" he urged as dashed past Mei and Chōjūrō, who looked at each other but were instantly behind him.

"You have plan?" demanded Mei as the three of them jumped onto a rooftop and leapt over the town walls.

Sasuke didn't elaborate. "You-" he indicated Chōjūrō "-stay close to the walls and stop anything that gets through."

Chōjūrō gawked, looking at the immense wall of boulders that was bearing down on them. "I-I'll do my best!"

"Do better!" Chōjūrō shot an uncertain glance at Mei, who smiled her support and confidence in him.

A hundred feet ahead, Sasuke stopped and Mei came to standstill behind, looking apprehensively between the approaching avalanche and Sasuke's back.

"We don't have to stop the whole thing," said Sasuke without turning to look at her. "We just have to stop the section that will crush the town."

"What did you have in mind?" asked the Mizukage, to which Sasuke answered by igniting a lightning-release _chidori._ She understood what he needed her to do, but had her doubts. "Wait a minute; this is an avalanche that-"

"Do it," came the uncompromising reply.

Mei looked at Sasuke's back for a moment of hesitation before her hands began to clap through the seals.

 _Suiton: Suijinheki._ Breathing deep and pouring in as much chakra as she could, she blew out an immense wall of water that swirled into a dome easily as wide as the town. Despite the fury of the water, several of the boulders ploughed through, then Sasuke thrust his hand into the torrent. Against the lightning-enhanced maelstrom, the crushing rocks crashed impotently, shattered into fragments, much to Mei's surprise, who then understood that the Uchiha must have realised that avalanche was artificial, having been created through some ninjutsu effect rather than natural - the electrified water barrier would never have worked otherwise.

Behind them, the boulders that had gotten through were dashed to pieces as Chōjūrō formed the chakra around Hiramekarei into an immense hammer and struck them aside. The remainder of the avalanche surged by harmlessly on either side of the town. When at last the tumult had calmed, Mei stopped with the surging water rampart, sagging slightly from the fatigue of prolonged use.

She was about to speak when she went wide-eyed as she was shoved back bodily by the Uchiha, who appeared suddenly before her. Even as she fell back, the ground beneath where she had stood shattered as a grey-clad man shot out lunging, kunai thrust upward for a disembowelling rip. Instantly realising his miss, he wheeled midair and slashed at Sasuke, driving him back, his back towards Mei.

 _Suiryūdan._ The man was instantly dashed against the collapsed rocks by Mei's water dragon that caught him square in the back, yet even as her feet hit the ground, five new rogue shinobi leaped in to engage her and she could see that Chōjūrō, who had been rushing to her aid, had become similarly engaged. Neither was Sasuke coming to help, for he was facing off against another who had chosen to face the Uchiha scion alone, drool leaking from his mouth as though one deranged.

With a horrible moaning laugh, he lurched forward, stabbing viciously and repeatedly with his kunai, but the attacks were disjointed and random to which Sasuke did not even need to using his sharingan to avoid them. The shinobi pulled back for another lunge and Sasuke drew his sword, striking the blade from his hand. Unfazed, he smiled idiotically as he watched his small blade clatter against the rocks, then came forward again. Though Sasuke found no difficulty in countering the other man's taijutsu, he was trying to fathom just what was driving his opponent to such a reckless degree. Diving deeply beneath a wide swing, he kicked the other hard in the stomach, spun about and struck with his elbow at the base of the neck, sending the former Kiri shinobi to the ground with eyes rolled up.

An instant later, his opponent was picking himself up, somehow still clinging to consciousness. He came again, even faster than before and Sasuke brought his sword to gaurd. Flesh met steel. A few drops of blood fell between them and Sasuke struggled, the man clinging on to his pommel and sword with his bare hands and holding tight. With only one good hand, he was unable to apply leverage and was being pushed back, yet, as he gathered to kick the other away, his opponent spoke.

"Sa-su-ke," he intoned sadly, though his eyes were fervent and smile ecstatic.

"Do we know each other?" asked Sasuke doubtfully.

"Yes..." came the shuddering response. Sasuke peered into the man's face, but was certain he had never seen his likeness before.

"Who are you?"

Lunging forward suddenly, snapping his teeth, he tried bite at Sasuke, beast-like. Rolling backward smoothly, he leveraged and kicked, sending the Kiri-nin hurtling over him. Despite crashing and rolling across the ground, he got up unfazed, only to jump away as several bullets of water crashed around him. To their right, Mei and Chōjūrō had dealt with their opponents and were coming towards them. Grinning toothily, a smoke bomb fell from behind his back and the blast instantly concealed him. A spout of water, shot from Mei, cleared away the smoke, but the assailant was already gone leaving the three of them to look at the collapsed earthen tunnel in the ground he had escaped through.


End file.
